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Sunday, July 26, 2009

My thoughts today are reflecting the fact that my brother would have been 70 years old on July 25, 2009. Thirty years ago he was celebrating his 40th birthday. Life seemed unending in those days. My parents and brother and my children and grandchildren were alive and well. I was busy working, raising Laurie, looking forward to many more years of the same. Little did we know that eight months later the chain would be broken by David's death in March 1980. As we gathered at his funeral, it was a family deep in grief for his death, but united in the love we all felt for him and the privilege we had of loving him for 40 years.

David was a special person and will always be my "little brother." Our childhood was tumultuous and often insecure, but our mom did the best she could to keep us safe and to see that we survived. We finally had some stability in our lives when she married Laurel L Evelyn in 1949. David had Laurel (as well as the rest of the world) wrapped around his little finger. He was funny, smart, ambitious, pleasant and easy to be around.

From the time he was a toddler he had a special way of charming folks. People liked him instantly. How could you help it -- he was special and he was naturally charming. I was proud to be his sister, that's for sure. We had stuck together, sometimes when there was no one else to care, and we developed a strong bond. I can't remeber a time when I didn't have a brother. I was 4 years old when he was born, but I remember very little of "pre David time."

I feel sad when I think of his short life. I feel sad that he missed seeing so much of life. I feel joy when I think of the times we shared as two little kids watching out for each other. I feel joy that I had him for a brother.